#12DaysofNewsela
On a scale from Scrooge to Buddy the Elf, I definitely fall near Buddy the Elf. I love this time of year and celebrating the magic of the season with my students. Last year, when Newsela announced their #12DaysofNewsela challenge
Newsela 101: 4-3-2-1 Summary
Summarizing is a frequently used skill in my classroom. To practice summarizing a fiction text, my students and I often rely on the ‘Someone, Wanted, But, So, Then…’ strategy. However, there are several methods for summarizing informational text. The most
Newsela 101: Animoto
Student Example Video Need a quick and fun way for students to create videos and not have to worry about hours of editing? Well then Animoto is the video maker for you! I love using Animoto in the classroom to
Newsela 101: Circle Discussion
In honor of Veterans’ Day, I wanted my students to learn about the history of the day and engage in relevant conversation about what they learned. Often times my students absorb information but don’t always know how to effectively communicate what
Novel Spotlight: Damselfly by Chandra Prasad
Welcome to the first post where we feature a novel and pair it with a Newsela Text Set. We’re excited to review Damselfly by Chandra Prasad and provide insight into how this book could be used in the classroom and
Newsela 101: Social Function Discussion
I actually stole this idea from my brother who works as a CPA. What do a CPA and education have to do with one another??? Well, my brother and I were talking one-day about skills he believed were lacking in most
Newsela 101: Flipgrid
For some students, writing is a challenge; they have great thoughts but there’s a disconnect between what they are able to communicate verbally and their written work. Anyone who has used Flipgrid in the classroom knows that, in addition to
Newsela 101: Reading Organizer
Hey everyone! Wanted to share a quick and easy organizer that I created to go along with any Newsela article. “Ugh we have to do a worksheet with this reading???” Who hasn’t heard this come from a student when asking
Newsela 101: One Pager
The One-Pager Poster is the Swiss Army knife of activities. What I love about the activity is that it can fit with any article on Newsela. The activity can be adapted quickly and made to work with any level or
Newsela 101: Bingo
At the beginning of the year, students have varying levels of familiarity with Newsela. They’ve often read articles assigned by their teacher but haven’t taken time to explore the site on their own. Having students work on Newsela Bingo during
